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PARIS — With the Biennale des Antiquaires looming, most fine jewelry houses in Paris are busy working on the collections they will preview to press in July before putting them on display at the show in September.
This forced many to sit out the fine jewelry presentations that traditionally accompany Paris Couture Week, leaving a couple of new arrivals plenty of scope to showcase their designs. Chanel and Louis Vuitton were the only major houses to show new collections, though Vuitton had already unveiled its Emprise line during its pre-fall appointments in New York earlier in the month.
This story first appeared in the January 28, 2014 issue of WWD. Subscribe Today.
The Chanel collection was the first one centered entirely on pearls since 2006. The 87 pieces, of which roughly a third are necklaces, focused on themes including the camellia and Gabrielle Chanel's inaugural fine jewelry collection in 1932, which featured comet, feather and ribbon designs. The new styles are worked in everything from tiny freshwater pearls to chunky baroque pearls from Australia. "For Chanel, pearls represent a kind of hidden luxury because they're highly personal," said Benjamin Comar, international director of Chanel Fine Jewelry. "And above all, they are very easy to wear, because they're supple, they're sensual, so they really match the evolution of women's lifestyles."
One stunner, the Perles de Jour necklace, blends 47 South Sea cultured pearls with diamond tassels and an 8-carat cushion-cut central diamond that secures the two strands. The one-of-a-kind piece, made in the Chanel workshop on Place Vendôme, is worth 2.55 million euros, or $3.47 million at current exchange.
Boucheron, meanwhile, presented several fine jewelry additions to its Quatre line, launched in 2004, including cuffs with geometric motifs and a Quatre ring fully pavéd with diamonds in baguette, princess, cushion and round cuts. The ring retails for 39,500 euros to 44,950 euros, or $53,745 to $61,160, depending on the width. With its four stacked bands bearing iconic Boucheron motifs, the Quatre ring has been spotted on stars including Salma Hayek, Amber Heard and Beyoncé, who wore hers on stage during a concert in New York in December.
Bulgari, which this year celebrates its 130th anniversary, showcased several new pieces from its mini collection devoted to the four seasons. The pink gold Autumn necklace features diamonds juxtaposed with tourmalines, amethysts and spessartite garnets, all carved into leaf shapes inspired by Mughal tradition.
For his Metropolis collection, Wilfredo Rosado gave life to gridlike white gold structures by coating the inside of the jewelry with color, using a nanoceramic technique, and then hammer-setting them with emeralds or sapphires. Diamonds were reverse set into a sharp point on the bottom of a pendant and earrings. "It's inspired by architecture and my take on all these amazing glass towers that are coming up," Rosado said.
Maison Martin Margiela revived its Ligne 12 jewelry line, which stopped in 2011, with the Héritage collection, consisting of heirloom pieces with a twist. Its bisected diamond solitaire ring is being described as a "non-engagement" ring, while the Pompadour is a deconstructed diamond and sapphire ring designed to be worn on two fingers. The collection will go on sale beginning in April at Maison Martin Margiela stores and about 15 retailers, including Selfridges and Barneys New York. Prices start at 500 euros, or $680, for a silver signet ring cleaved across the middle, and rise to 20,000 euros, or $27,200, for the largest-sized split solitaire ring.
After offering a teaser of her first fine jewelry line in September, Aurélie Bidermann showed the full 38 pieces in Paris, with lucky charms including a ladybird whose wings can open and close, Indian elements such as elephant pendants and a Forties-style gold mesh bracelet inspired by her grandmother's watch. "It was important to me that everything be easy to mix and match," said the designer.
Another newcomer is Dauphin, the brainchild of Charlotte Dauphin de la Rochefoucauld, which made a high-profile debut with a presentation and cocktail at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs, and visuals shot by Paolo Roversi that featured model Saskia de Brauw. Consisting of two rings, two pairs of earrings, a cuff and a necklace, the line is based on sparse geometric lines and curves. Set with diamonds by hand, the designs will be sold exclusively through Dauphin's Web site and at its future showroom in London, with prices starting at 700 euros, or $950, for silver pieces and rising to 60,000 euros, or $81,640, for a sculptural made-to-measure necklace.
Dauphin de la Rochefoucauld described her customer as "a contemporary woman who has a certain confidence, who is both strong yet at the same time truly elegant."


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"Vivendi might be getting more serious about offloading Activision-Blizzard.
"Reuters reports the French conglomerate has been in talks with a number of video game (and mass media) companies about a potential sale of the industry's top seller.
"That makes for a good headline – and I have no doubt about Reuters' report, but as the industry works itself into a frenzy trying to guess whether Microsoft, Time Warner, or Tencent will be the new home of Call of Duty and Diablo, too many people are failing to scratch the surface," writes Chris Morris of Gamasutra.
very good read. i am wondering who will spent the money. i will be shocked if no one spends the money...
yea if ms buys this they will have a good start next gen
I can't think of any company in a great position to buy these guys.
The ONLY worthwhile IP that activision has is call of duty, but it's on the way down--hence the sell off. prototype, blur, singularity, guitar hero, tony hawk are all underperforming and worthless. Spiderman, Transformers, James Bond, Nascar, and Disney titles are licensed from other owners and would never be exclusive to microsoft if they bought activision. WoW is going downhill too in terms of subscribers but that is in another division.
I don't think any of the big 3 should purchase Activision basically because of this
"Activision's profitability would plummet as a Microsoft division, since there's no real chance the company would make games for the PlayStation or Nintendo platforms. "
it's just too much to control

subset: commoncrawl


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It may be late, but the tech world never sleeps. Tonight, LG sent out invites for its upcoming flagship, the LG G2. And interestingly enough, LG's practically pulling a Motorola here and teasing the phone at every chance. LG's not being shy with the name and a couple of the features though. The invitation clearly calls the phone the LG G2 and shows off an outline of the phone. That same outline also shows off a couple of tasty tidbits.
These morsels include the same rear volume controls that we saw before as well as confirming that the piece in between the arrows is indeed a fingerprint scanner. How does it confirm that? Simply look at the picture down below and you can see the reflection of a finger pressing itself onto the small piece. LG can't get much more obvious than that.
Other than that, it gives us another compliment with the phone saying, "To me, you are perfect." The invitation also says that "we are learning from you" which suggests that LG might be listening to what consumers have to say and then designing its products based on that.
What did you take away from the invite? Are you excited for the G2?


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Banks need to get their acts together if they're going to offer consumers mobile wallets that can compete with user-friendly offerings from savvy alternative providers such as telecom companies.
Wim Pardon, the managing director of OpenWay for the Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) region, thinks his company has the answer – mobile wallet technology that includes broader marketing and transaction capabilities.
OpenWay, a Brussels-based payment processing technology company, plans to demonstrate its WAY4 Wallet at the Cartes show this week in Paris. Equity Bank, which has partnered with OpenWay to allow M-Pesa mobile money account holders to withdraw cash from ATMs in Kenya, will demonstrate the mobile wallet with OpenWay at the conference. The WAY4 Wallet is designed to provide access to financial services via the web, mobile device or social network without requiring visits to a branch.
The services include what the company is calling a "virtual personal office." That includes mobile payments; funds transfers; prepaid, debit and credit card management; the ability to create payment templates for mobile and web bill presentment and payment; as well as enhanced data-driven communication capabilities between the consumer and the acquiring financial institution.
The "data driven communication" refers to a link to CRM and account management tools that can be accessed through the same log in and user interface as the mobile payment app.
While at a store deciding on a purchase, for example, a consumer could look at bills due and special offers, check balances on different debit, credit or loyalty cards, and make adjustments (such as move the payment for a bill back a week or so or make an account to account transfer in order to make a purchase) on the fly from the mobile wallet app.
Pardon argues the competitive landscape in mobile commerce is requiring more of banks in terms of user experience and functionality, particularly since telecom consortia are building mobile wallet networks that threaten banks' ownership of the payments relationship. In the U.S., the largest telecom group is Isis, which includes AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon. Isis is testing its services at transit systems in Salt Lake City and Austin.
"What the telcos are doing is more advanced than what the banks are doing," Pardon says. "There are a lot of payment services that telcos can offer. The telcos are not financial institutions, but it's not that difficult to create some financial services."
By offering access to a broader mix of card payment options added to bank transactions and services, OpenWay hopes to make bank-led mobile commerce more attractive. The software, which would typically be licensed by a bank and delivered to consumers via a mobile banking app or online banking, includes an integration between payment processing, bank accounts, and marketing and CRM systems. It ties together mobile banking and transactions with data management and analysis. That would in theory allow banks to combine transaction data with existing customer data to deliver targeted marketing at the point of sale, via the web. "With [an integration between mobile banking and payments] you can combine prepaid with credit card and other accounts to enable a larger range of [higher value] payments with more options," Pardon says, adding the WAY4 Wallet still has payment limits set by the card acquirer as a security measure.
Pardon says there is a huge potential market in North America for bank-led mobile payments, with use cases including the prepaid salary cards that are common in the underbanked segment and point of sale payments that comply with Europay, MasterCard and Visa (EMV) chip-based security standards. As merchants and acquiring banks migrate cards and point of sale terminals to accept EMV payments, a parallel migration toward contactless mobile payments is also expected to take place. "Are we looking to enter the North American market? Yes," Pardon says, adding OpenWay has one financial client in North America and is currently developing a business case for further expansion.
Pardon acknowledges that North America will be a tough market to crack, since many banks such as PNC are developing or have built mobile wallets of their own. "We'd have to answer the question of why they would go with a third party vendor," he says.


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HttpWebRequest Class
Provides an HTTP-specific implementation of the WebRequest class.
Assembly: System (in System.dll)
The HttpWebRequest class provides support for the properties and methods defined in WebRequest and for additional properties and methods that enable the user to interact directly with servers using HTTP.
Do not use the HttpWebRequest constructor. Use the WebRequest.Create method to initialize new HttpWebRequest objects. If the scheme for the Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) is http:// or https://, Create returns an HttpWebRequest object.
The GetResponse method makes a synchronous request to the resource specified in the RequestUri property and returns an HttpWebResponse that contains the response. You can make an asynchronous request to the resource using the BeginGetResponse and EndGetResponse methods.
When you want to send data to the resource, the GetRequestStream method returns a Stream object to use to send data. The BeginGetRequestStream and EndGetRequestStream methods provide asynchronous access to the send data stream.
For client authentication with HttpWebRequest, the client certificate must be installed in the My certificate store of the current user.
The HttpWebRequest class throws a WebException when errors occur while accessing a resource. The WebException.Status property contains a WebExceptionStatus value that indicates the source of the error. When WebException.Status is WebExceptionStatus.ProtocolError, the Response property contains the HttpWebResponse received from the resource.
HttpWebRequest exposes common HTTP header values sent to the Internet resource as properties, set by methods, or set by the system; the following table contains a complete list. You can set other headers in the Headers property as name/value pairs. Note that servers and caches may change or add headers during the request.
The following table lists the HTTP headers that are set either by properties or methods or the system.
Set by
Set by the Accept property.
Set by the Connection property, KeepAlive property.
Set by the ContentLength property.
Set by the ContentType property.
Set by the Expect property.
Set by the system to current date.
Set by the system to current host information.
Set by the IfModifiedSince property.
Set by the AddRange method.
Set by the Referer property.
Set by the TransferEncoding property (the SendChunked property must be true).
Set by the UserAgent property.
HttpWebRequest is registered automatically. You do not need to call the RegisterPrefix method to register System.Net.HttpWebRequest before using URIs beginning with http:// or https://.
The local computer or application config file may specify that a default proxy be used. If the Proxy property is specified, then the proxy settings from the Proxy property override the local computer or application config file and the HttpWebRequest instance will use the proxy settings specified. If no proxy is specified in a config file and the Proxy property is unspecified, the HttpWebRequest class uses the proxy settings inherited from Internet Explorer on the local computer. If there are no proxy settings in Internet Explorer, the request is sent directly to the server.
The HttpWebRequest class parses a proxy bypass list with wildcard characters inherited from Internet Explorer differently than the bypass list is parsed directly by Internet Explorer. For example, the HttpWebRequest class will parse a bypass list of "nt*" from Internet Explorer as a regular expression of "nt.$". This differs from the native behavior of Internet Explorer. So a URL of "http://intxxxxx" would bypass the proxy using the HttpWebRequest class, but would not bypass the proxy using Internet Explorer.
The Framework caches SSL sessions as they are created and attempts to reuse a cached session for a new request, if possible. When attempting to reuse an SSL session, the Framework uses the first element of ClientCertificates (if there is one), or tries to reuse an anonymous sessions if ClientCertificates is empty.
For security reasons, cookies are disabled by default. If you want to use cookies, use the CookieContainer property to enable cookies.
Performance Issues
A number of elements can have an impact on performance when using the HttpWebRequest class. These include the following:
The ServicePointManager class.
The DefaultConnectionLimit property.
The UseNagleAlgorithm property.
The ServicePointManager is an object that provides connection management for HTTP connections. The ServicePointManager is a static class that creates maintains and deletes instances of the ServicePoint class. Each ServicePoint instance handles or manages connections to Internet resources based on the host Uri. After the first connection made to a host Uri, each subsequent request will use the information provided by the ServicePoint instance.
ServicePoint mySP = ServicePointManager.FindServicePoint(myUri);
The DefaultConnectionLimit property allows an application to specify how many concurrent connections should be allowed to any given resource. An application using a HttpWebRequest instance is able to specify the maximum number of concurrent persistent connections that it will have to a server. By default this is property is set to 2. So when the ServicePointManager creates a ServicePoint instance, it will assign the ConnectionLimit property to the value of the DefaultConnectionLimit property that is set on the ServicePointManager class.
The best value for the DefaultConnectionLimit property depends on the application workload and proxy settings. A general recommendation when only connecting to a few hosts or connecting through a proxy is to use a value that is 12 times the number of CPUs on the local computer. So for a computer with 4 CPUs using a proxy, the recommended value would be 48.
ServicePointManager.DefaultConnectionLimit = 48;
An application should increase the value for the DefaultConnectionLimit property under the following conditions:
If the application uses a proxy.
If the application primarily sends data and connects to a small number of servers.
If the application connects to systems that have high latency.
An application should decrease the value for the DefaultConnectionLimit property under the following conditions:
If the application is memory or resource constrained.
Another option that can have an impact on performance is the use of the UseNagleAlgorithm property. When this property is set to true, TCP/IP will try to use the TCP Nagle algorithm for HTTP connections. The Nagle algorithm aggregates data when sending TCP packets. It accumulates sequences of small messages into larger TCP packets before the data is sent over the network. Using the Nagle algorithm can optimize the use of network resources, although in some situations performance can also be degraded. Generally for constant high-volume throughput, a performance improvement is realized using the Nagle algorithm. But for smaller throughput applications, degradation in performance may be seen.
An application doesn't normally need to change the default value for the UseNagleAlgorithm property which is set to true. However, if an application is using low-latency connections, it may help to set this property to false.
ServicePointManager.UseNagleAlgorithm = false;
Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows CE Platform Note: An HTTP POST request over Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) will fail with a SocketException if the request goes through a proxy and all of the following conditions are also met:
Preauthentication is disabled on the server.
The server requires Basic, Digest, Negotiate, or Windows NT Challenge/Response (NTLM) authentication.
KeepAlive is set to false.
X.509 client authentication is not used.
The following code example creates an HttpWebRequest for the URI http://www.contoso.com/.
- WebPermission
to access the requested URI or any URI that the request is redirected to. Associated enumeration: Connect
Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC
The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.


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Trips By Activity
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Rooted in the community for over 20 years, we have established a reputation for providing the very best in client care, and come #1 recommended by local concierges and hotels Valley-wide.


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posted by Thom Holwerda on Tue 19th Feb 2008 13:42 UTC, submitted by Karl
Already at their second beta release [German], Zebuntu is an Xfce-based Ubuntu distribution with heavy - you guessed it - Zeta influences. Bernd Korz explains the goals of Zebuntu in the project's announcement [German]: "Our goal is to use BlueEyedOS to offer a new platform for our former Zeta customers. In the future, Zeta, BeOS, as well as any future Haiku applications, will run natively on Zebuntu. This also offers a distinct advantage for developers for these platforms; they can use Zebuntu to develop for their platforms while utilising the performance and versatility of Linux." In other words, run BeOS applications on Linux. They have not forgotten about BFS support either. The project is, of course, completely open source. The website is only available in German for now, but Zebuntu developer Leszek Lesner confirmed to me that work is being done on an English variant (there already is an English development blog). Download the second beta from their download page, and, of course, see some screenshots.


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Social constructivism vs Positivism
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
(02-02-2013 05:41 PM)Ghost Wrote: Hey, fst.I'm starting to wonder if these two views are apples to oranges.
I can concede that an element of social constructivism does exist in the form of culture, or societal norms. It can tell us why Poutine is amazing in Canada and Mc Donalds is great in the states.
However it cannot establish that geocentricity in one culture is valid, and that heliocentricity is valid in another. Only the heliocentric view is true. No matter what you think about it, or how you explain it, the earth will revolve around the sun. The nature of reality will continue to exist, and function, no matter how wrong our explanation of that reality is.
Science a way for us to take apart reality, describe it's cause and effect thus providing a model that better reflects reality than any other system.
You can describe why those people see that view, and understand how they came to that conclusion, but it's still a false conclusion about reality. Even if all models of reality are effectively wrong, we can conclude that some models are more false than others. The one that is the least false, and closest to operation of nature is that which we should adhere to.
Member of the Cult of ReasonBitcion:1DNeQMswMdvx4xLPP6qNE7RkeTwXGC7Bzp
The atheist is a man who destroys the imaginary things which afflict the human race, and so leads men back to nature, to experience and to reason.
-Baron d'Holbach-
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
Hey, fst.
Quote:However it cannot establish that geocentricity in one culture is valid,
But that only has meaning within a very specific construct, the one that you and I share. Outside of that construct it has absolutely no meaning.
Quote:Science a way for us to take apart reality, describe it's cause and
As I just mentioned to Zat in another thread, science too is a construction.
The constructivist view doesn't say that science is bad. It doesn't say that anything is bad. It just explains what we observe.
As far as apples and oranges, Positivism says that science is the best and that everything else is poo. Constructivism says, that is what Positivists think, but that's not objectively true and it's not shared by all cultures.
Quote:Even if all models of reality are effectively wrong, we can conclude that some models are more false than others.
That's a trap because it's only meaningful to people who believe there is an objective truth. Only to them does it matter whether or not one thing is closer to it. It's a bargaining ploy. "OK, we admit that no one has the truth, but our truth is the better wrong truth!"
Box says, "All models are wrong. But some are useful." Validity has only to do with usefulness and usefulness has no objective metric; only a relativistic one. What seems useless to you and me might be the core of reality to another people.
So Positivism makes sense to positivists because non-empirical sources of knowledge are "less true" than scientific ones by the metric of science itself. It's hard to see past that ideology when one is immersed in it. But if you eliminate that metric (not arbitrarily but because one accepts that it's not an objective metric but rather a constructed one) then Positivism breaks down. Science isn't the ONLY path to knowledge.
Peace and Love and Empathy,
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
(06-02-2013 10:58 PM)Ghost Wrote: The constructivist view doesn't say that science is bad. It doesn't say that anything is bad. It just explains what we observe.
When you say there is no objective truth, are you implying there is no objective reality? Or that we can't know it?
Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
Hey, Chas.
That we cannot know it.
Plato figured this out thousands of years ago.
Everything we know and understand is achieved through a process of mediation. We cannot understand things except through a form of mediation. The only way to understand that form of mediation is through another form of mediation.
There is always a separation between that which is as it is (what I like to refer to as actuality) and that which we understand.
Actuality + interpretation = reality
Reality is a construction. Reality is not fixed, not absolute and changes over time.
So I'm also saying that not only is there no objective reality, but that reality is not what it is colloquially thought to be. Reality is not the real. Reality is the shadow on the cave wall.
Then throw into the mix that we don't actually have any proof that actuality exists, that there is something objective out there. It's an entirely counter-intuitive notion, but one with many backers (cogito ergo sum being one of the more famous ones). So I cannot be certain that there is an objective universe (although my intuition makes me lean pretty heavily to the side of yes) but I do feel comfortable with the notion that we use a construction of reality. The constructivist view corresponds to what we know about sensing, cognition, language, semiotics, memetics, information, communication and a host of other areas of study.
Think about it this way. The human organism has sensory organs. We get input from everything around us. We then process that information in the computer that is our brain. There is so much raw data in the universe that if we did not pick and choose what data was important and eliminate that which isn't important to us, our brains would simply be overloaded by the data stream. What we understand is not actuality, but an abstracted version of it. For sure, there is a relationship between that abstraction and actuality (see the equation above) but that relationship is essentially arbitrary, unfixed and changes from one culture to the next.
Peace and Love and Empathy,
The following 1 user Likes Ghost's post:1 user Likes Ghost's post
Vosur (08-02-2013)
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
(07-02-2013 09:32 AM)Ghost Wrote: Hey, Chas.
I think I mostly agree with you, except that I am quite convinced that there is an objective reality.
Otherwise, what would the shadows on the cave wall be shadows of?
I am positive that we construct our knowledge from mediated reality, and that science is the method that gets us the best constructed model. I have somewhere between little and no reason to believe that any other method even comes close.
Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.
The following 1 user Likes Chas's post:1 user Likes Chas's post
Vosur (07-02-2013)
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
Hey, Chas.
Does actuality exist? Beats me. If you think so, so be it. It's hardly a make or break thing for me.
Best is a construction. In terms of what is important to the culture that you are a part of, science may well be best. But the metric that you are using is ideological, not absolute. Science is an excellent way to enable the understanding, and most importantly, the CONTROL of that which is around us. But the importance of control is utterly ideological. To many cultures, controlling the universe is an absolute perversion. So what use do they have for science?
We, on the other hand, are obsessed with control... And the planet is dying because of it. That's one of those glaring ideological contradictions that hegemony sutures and obfuscates.
As in all things, science is adaptive in a specific environmental and temporal context and nowhere else.
Doesn't at all mean that science is shitty. Quite the opposite. It recognises that science is adaptive in certain situations. But the idea that as an absolute it is, as Phil Baroni once said, "the best eva!" is unsupported.
For example, a toucan might think that its beak is the best ever and no other beak comes close. But a vulture's beak is wicked useful in a different context. And a humming bird's beak is supreme in another. All of those beaks allow the birds to eat. And they are evolutinarily stable strategies in their own contexts, but the absolute "bestness" of each beak is a false notion. None is better than the other. So science is like a toucan beak. Great where it is and great at what it does, but possibly useless in other contexts.
So positivism makes perfect sense, it's "common sense", to you and to most of the people of Our culture. But the common sense view is not the objective view, it is naturalised ideology.
And thus the constructivist view rears it's head again. Every scrap of knowledge and understanding in our heads is a construction. All of it.
Peace and Love and Empathy,
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
(08-02-2013 07:25 AM)Ghost Wrote: Hey, Chas.
The fact that the 'construction' of physical reality is so consistent supports the there being an underlying reality.
"But the importance of control is utterly ideological. " Well, no. It is also practical for survival.
Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
Hey, Chas.
Quote:"But the importance of control is utterly ideological. " Well, no. It is also practical for survival.
The thing about ideology is that when we're in the grips of it, it's difficult to deconstruct it. When I speak of the importance of control, I'm obviously not talking about picking up food and putting it in your mouth. Every human being does that. I'm talking about field after field of monocrop, fishing trawlers, the hoover dam, the fact that 10% of the US is paved, species hunted to extinction because they have the audacity to want to eat the same things as us, terminator genes, pesticides, mile after mile of highway, factory farms, genetically modified organisms... the list goes on and on. Our culture is the substance abuser of controlling our environment and to Our culture, it's the most important thing in the universe. Science enables us to do it bigger, better, faster, more, so naturally, science is of the utmost importance to our culture. All of this very much constitutes ideology. I invite you to do some cultural comparisons and see if every other culture places the same primacy on control that Our culture does. I think you'll find that it's not as universal as you think. Many cultures, for example, believe that partnership is of far greater importance than control. This is the power of the common sense view. It makes us believe that ideologies are absolute when they are not.
Peace and Love and Empathy,
08-02-2013, 08:42 AM (This post was last modified: 08-02-2013 08:52 AM by Chas.)
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
(08-02-2013 08:11 AM)Ghost Wrote: Hey, Chas.
But you are using only the extremes. Some control enhances survivability.
Pre-industrial humans practiced control through agriculture and animal husbandry.
Skepticism is not a position; it is an approach to claims.
Science is not a subject, but a method.
RE: Social constructivism vs Positivism
This thread has become an interesting read. Thanks to all the participants so far.
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Between May 15 and June 5, 2009, 861 individuals took part in a survey conducted by Library Strategies Consulting Group on behalf of the American Library Association's Office for Library Advocacy. Below are the survey results. Please note: percentages may not total 100 due to rounding.
1. What type of library are you affiliated with? (Please check all that apply.)
Public 32%
K-12 School 28%
Academic 37%
Special 6%
Library Network, Cooperative or Consortium 10%
2. My library engages in advocacy activities.
Yes 60%
No 24%
Don't know 16%
Those who answered "Yes" to Question 2 were asked the following question:
3. My library works in coalition with other organizations on advocacy efforts.
Yes 74%
No 18%
Don't know 8%
Those who answered "Yes" to Question 3 were asked the following question.
4. My library's advocacy efforts include working in coalition with other organizations on:
Long term or ongoing advocacy 33%
A single-issue campaign 12%
Both 55%
5. My library works with the following types of organizations (please check all that apply):
Other libraries 89%
Foundations 36%
Friends organizations 51%
Civic organizations 41%
Businesses 29%
Schools 58%
Government agencies or officials 48%
Paid lobbyists 21%
Volunteer lobbyists 16%
Arts organizations 29%
Other nonprofits 34%
Other (please specify)* 18%
*Of the 18% of respondents whose libraries work with "other" types of entities, the most common answer specified was "state/regional library association."
PR Resources and Other Relevant Links


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Fender Jaguar
After the runaway success of the Fender Telecaster and Stratocaster, which were popular with country and rock musicians, Leo Fender next turned his efforts towards developing a guitar specifically for jazz players. The resulting guitar was the Fender Jazzmaster, which was first released in 1958. The Jazzmaster featured several distinct differences compared to the Fender guitars that came before it. The body was somewhat larger, and featured an "offset" waist design, where the narrowest part of the contour of the guitar's waist is closer to the bridge on the high E string side, and closer to the neck pickup on the low E string side of the body. This improves player comfort when holding the guitar while seated. The Jazzmaster also was the first Fender guitar to feature the new rosewood (as opposed to the earlier maple) fretboard. A new "floating" tremolo was also designed for the guitar that differed from the unit in the Stratocaster. It had a floating bridge unit that was detached from the vibrato mechanism's arm and spring, which were mounted on a second metal plate located a few inches further down towards the end of the guitar.
All of these features -- the offset body design and shape, the rosewood fretboard and the new Floating Vibrato unit made their way on to Fender's next guitar -- the Jaguar, which was introduced in 1962. The Jazzmaster had failed to attract the attention of jazz musicians to the degree Fender was hoping for, but it became very popular with Surf musicians, in part because of the vibrato tailpiece. However, the wide and flat "soapbar" pickups of the Jazzmaster were designed to have a warmer, more mellow sound that would be suited to jazz, and many Surf musicians liked the brighter, twangier sounds of the Stratocaster's pickups, so Fender equipped the Jaguar with two pickups that had more similarity to the Strat's pickup design and sound, as opposed to the Jazzmaster's. These single coil models also included external metal shielding plates to help make the guitar less susceptible to hum and electro-magnetic and radio frequency interference that may cause noise.
There are other differences with a Jaguar. The guitar has a slightly shorter 24" scale length and 22 fret neck, which both increases the note range and makes it easier to play for people with smaller hands. Like the Jazzmaster, it has a second set of "rhythm circuit" volume and tone controls, but the switching is even more comprehensive, with more tonal options. All of the controls are mounted in chromed metal plates, arguably giving the Jaguar a more upscale appearance. Indeed, when it was introduced, Fender considered the Jaguar to be their top of the line instrument. While never as popular as the Telecaster or Stratocaster, and even less so after Surf music's heyday in the 1960s, the Jaguar's popularity increased dramatically in the 1990s when alternative and grunge rock musicians began to widely embrace the model. Famous Jaguar players include Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, Bilinda Butcher of My Bloody Valentine, John Frusciante of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. Today Fender offers various takes on the Jaguar concept, with everything from more stripped down models to accurate vintage recreations.
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AICPA Asks IRS for Clearer Cancellation of Debt Information Reporting Rules
April 30, 2013
The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) submitted comments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on April 1, 2013 regarding proposed guidance governing how to report the cancellation of debt.
"We support the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to address issues surrounding Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt," Jeffrey A. Porter, CPA, chair of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee, said in the letter to the IRS. "We strongly believe changes are needed to the filing requirements for Form 1099-C. Specifically, we suggest that IRS require lenders to issue Form 1099-C only upon the legal discharge of a debt, which will occur at the earlier of the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or when all collection efforts by the lender or surrogate collection organizations have ceased."
The AICPA letter noted that confusion and misreporting occur because the 36-month non-payment testing period can result in a Form 1099-C being issued several years after the debt is legally discharged. The AICPA recommended that the IRS amend the applicable regulations so that a Form 1099-C is issued only for the year that a debt is legally discharged, which would solve the timing problem created by the 36-month testing period.
The AICPA also encouraged the IRS to collaborate with other government agencies involved with credit card and other debts to ensure that the rules for legal discharge of debt are applied so that borrowers do not receive a Form 1099-C if the lender or 3rd party purchaser of the debt intends to continue collection efforts.


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Web Designer Intern
If you possess the necessary skills to code web interfaces by hand using HTML, JavaScript and CSS layout techniques, we are interested in your resume. We seek a detail oriented individual with organization skills and a strong motivation to learn. This individual must maintain a high standard of quality and be comfortable working with others or on your own. The successful candidate for this internship will work closely with the UX/UI Design Director.
- Assisting with the upload of daily content
- Creation of wireframes
- Design mock-ups and front-end design code for the website and email newsletters
Experience/Skill Requirements:
- Must demonstrate knowledge of Photoshop, HTML and CSS
- Knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite. Specially Photoshop
- Thorough quality assurance skills
- Comfortable working alone or as part of a team
- Basic understanding of writing cross-browser HTML
- Basic understanding working with content management systems
- Major in the area of web design is a plus. Background check will be required.
Candidates must be enrolled in school at the time of their internship and should be able to commit to 2-3 full days a week for a minimum of four months. Clique Media is located in Los Angeles.
How to Apply:
- Submit a cover letter and resume to firstname.lastname@example.com with the subject line "Web Designer Intern"
About Clique Media:
Clique Media is the parent company to the popular multi-media fashion brand Who What Wear (www.whowhatwear.com), which is the definitive online authority for trendsetting fashion lovers and their followers, between the ages of 18-40. Clique Media has just launched its home décor site (www.DomaineHome.com) and in the spring of 2013 Clique Media will launch a beauty site.


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Being a life long Android user, on many occasions I have encountered many iPhone iOS users who are wowed and fascinated by the Android experience but for some reason are apprehensive to jump over from the dark side. ;)
The most common responses that come to mind are
- being too invested in iOS apps
- iphones are easier to use
- phone build quality on the current crop is not up to scratch
- camera pic IQ is not as good as an iphone
And the list goes on!
So, what are some of the "excuses" you have heard and what improvements/developments does the Android ecosystem need in order to satisfy these quibbles potential customers have?


text: I simply record the colour and the 'feel' as accurately and as honestly as I can, from my point of view: getting down on canvas or paper how exactly the moment seemed to my senses, especially visually, has an urgency in it that sometimes excludes the need for an accurate line depiction. When faced with a bright blue light which is hitting the trees in the foreground, turning the leaves pink and transforming known objects into brightly lit 'spots' of light, unrecognizable, how wondrous nature is. I do like to follow an accurate underdrawing... but sometimes... usually actually.... nature and light move and change shape.. so this method can prove redundant, unless I'm painting a still life, indoors, still and unchanging.Various exhibitions, commissions, awards and sales over the last 3 decades have endured I'm dedicated to my work.Please enjoy my work, it is colourful and a bit like eye candy.


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Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle Performed Together Last Night
They discussed a potential tour!!
The idea of Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle touring together, like a comedy version of Watch the Throne, has been dreamed of and rumored about for a while now. Last night, in a small New York comedy club, a handful of people might've seen the closest thing. As reported by the Comic's Comic, after midnight, unannounced, Dave Chappelle dropped by the Comedy Cellar (which you might know as the club from Louie) and did 45 minutes by himself. Right before he was going to end his set, Chris Rock joined him onstage for an hour. The two riffed about topics like Seth MacFarlane and Jay-Z's relationship with President Obama. Rock texted Jay-Z at 1:30 a.m., asking if he wanted to get spaghetti. When Jay didn't respond, they left voice mails for Arsenio Hall and Lenny Kravitz.
Most important, they discussed a potential tour, according to Comic's Comic:
"Come out to Oakland," Chappelle told Rock.
"You should come down to West Palm," Rock replied.
Chappelle: "After next Tuesday, I'm free for like 11 years."
Rock said he has a new movie of his own he's going to film later this spring, and would be cutting it over the summer. "I've got time between now and the movie," Rock told Chappelle onstage. "By Halloween, I could do dates."
Sounds good to us. We'll get our "Laughing Person at a Chris Rock and Dave Chappelle Comedy Show" costume ready.


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Call 866-683-4772to Research, evaluate and compare your senior housing options. It's easy and free.
Click Here to Request Quotes from Rodale Press Brm, PennsylvaniaHome Care Communities - Free Service, No Obligation
Dee's Lending Hands
, Northampton, PA
Distance: 5466.2 mi
Dee's Lending Hands, based in Northampton, Pennsylvania, offers a wide variety of home care services, serving seniors and their families in the Lehigh Valley area and surrounding communities.
Care Type: Home Care


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The Source
Passages: Zephyr Rapinchuk Celebration of Life
February 01, 2011
Friday, February 4th at 4:30 PM in Smith Hall there will be a Celebration of Life for Zephyr Rapinchuk. Zephyr died tragically in a skiing accident while with some friends at Jackson Hole, Wyoming over the winter break. Zephyr was a freshman who had completed his first semester at Lewis & Clark College. At the request of some of Zephyr's closest friends here at the College, we are holding this memorial gathering on February 4th– what would have been Zephyr's 19th birthday. Liv Edens, Area Director for Platt/Howard, Dean of the Chapel Mark Duntley, and Zephyr's friends have envisioned this memorial gathering as a relatively informal sharing of food, music, and conversation. Plans also include showing a DVD of photographs and memories that was part of the Celebration of Life for Zephyr held in Charlemont near his home in Massachusetts. There will also be an opportunity on Friday for some of his friends and teachers from last semester to share thoughts and memories of Zephyr. Zephyr's parents and younger sister will not be able to attend Friday's gathering, but are grateful that we are holding this gathering to honor Zephyr. Everyone is invited to attend this celebration of Zephyr's life on Friday at 4:30 PM. Please contact Mark Duntley (email@example.com) if you have any questions or would like additional information.


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October the 24. 1753. Recd. from James Dalton
a Negroe Woman Named Mindoe Which I promise
To Dispose off Said Negroe at North Caralina
To the best Advantage, for Said Dalton, and to
Lay out What She will Neat in good Tallow or
Oxhides, The Said Dalton Allowing me the Common
freaight & Commissions, The Dangers of the Sea
Excepted As Witness my hand
Thos. Prince
Capn. Thos: Prince
Receipt for Negroe
Receipt for Negroe


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ST. LOUIS (KMOV.com) -- A vacant and windowless concrete building along the riverfront in downtown St. Louis is coming down. Powell Square stands five stories tall and towers above other industrial buildings. Its graffiti-covered concrete frame is highly visible from from the Poplar Street Bridge and the cars that travel I-55 through downtown.
"We were giving this gentleman extra time. I think this building has been in this condition for at least ten to twelve years," said Frank Oswald, the city's deputy building commissioner.
Last spring, the city condemned the building and gave notice to the owner. December 28th, the city issued a demolition permit. Oswald says Powell Square became a safety hazard.
Powell Square is located on Cedar Street, surrounded by industrial buildings - some also vacant. The only residents in the neighborhood are two priests who live in the rectory at St. Mary of Victories Chapel next door to Powell Square.
"The city made the right decision to tear it down," said The Reverend Monsignor John McCarthy.
Msgr. McCarthy, who lived at the rectory since 2005, said he's been disappointed that previous development plans fell through.
In 2009, we reported that there were plans to renovate Powell Square and turn it into a museum. Despite the efforts, the building remained empty.
When asked if he was ever concerned about safety, Msgr. McCarthy said he would often see up to 16 or 18 homeless people camp inside the building. He says they didn't give the church any trouble.
St. Louis Police report three calls for service in the past year for disturbances at Powell Square, but the calls did not rise to the level that would require a written police report.
Libby Powers had her wedding photos taken in Powell Square. The building is not secured and Powers and her wedding party were able to walk in to take photos. She says she saw some safety issues like peeling ceilings, an open elevator shaft, and a small lake on the roof. But she says she still sees potential in the structure - particularly as a canvas.
"The graffiti was awesome. And to me, seeing stuff like that, just people's art displayed like that and where there's so much of it," said Powers.
"It's not just a quick tag. They actually had time to really get into something."
The City of St. Louis says it'll take a contractor 90 to 120 days to tear the structure down. The project is complicated by Powell Square's proximity to heavily traveled railroad tracks.
The city intends to bill the $265,000 demolition cost to the building owner, listed as developer Stephen Murphy. If the owner doesn't pay the demolition cost, the city will add it to the property tax bill.
"If they don't pay it then, we put it on their property taxes after the first year. If they don't pay it the following year and the following year, the third year, the city goes ahead and basically will sell the property," said Oswald.
If no one buys it, the city would end up with the lot.
News 4 called Murphy at his Clayton office late Thursday afternoon. We have not heard back. Check back here for updates.
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The housing market news sounds good this week. Sales of previously owned homes crawled up another 0.4 percent in January, which means that if this level of housing activity keeps up all year, sales will hit nearly 5 million,.
That's not the only good news. Existing home sale prices rose again, for the 11th month in a row, according to the National Association of Realtors. The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $173,600 in January, up 12.3 percent from January 2012. (The last time it jumped that much was from July 2005 to May 2006.)


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For the past few days, NPR has been taking a look at the challenges facing the 30 million American adults who lack basic literacy skills.
In the final part of our series on adult education, Kavitha Cardoza of member station WAMU examines the economic and social impacts — not just on individuals, but on society as a whole.
More From This Series
- Part 1: Turning The Page On Illiteracy, Adults Go Back To Class
- Part 2: What It Takes (And Means) To Learn English As An Adult
- Part 3: How To Turn Adult Education Into Careers, Quickly
- Kavitha Cardoza, special correspondent at WAMU.
It's HERE AND NOW.
Over the past few days, NPR has been taking a look at the challenges facing the 30 million American adults who lack basic literacy skills. In the final part of this series on adult education, we examine the economic and social impacts - not just on people, but society as a whole. Here's Kavitha Cardoza from WAMU in Washington, D.C.
KAVITHA CARDOZA, BYLINE: Claudine Edwards had a baby at 13 and dropped out of school. She's been unemployed for five years since she lost her job as a cleaner. Edwards relies on food stamps, and her daughter pays her rent. Now she's 53, and has come to Academy of Hope, a nonprofit in Washington, D.C., to ask about classes in basic reading and math.
CATHY WALSH: So, the last thing is fees, and it's $30 per term.
CARDOZA: She tenses when Cathy Walsh, a staff member, brings up money.
CLAUDINE EDWARDS: Can I bring the card to him next Monday?
WALSH: Yeah. Yeah. And actually, you don't have to pay all at once.
EDWARDS: Right.
WALSH: So, if you want to pay $10 at a time, that's fine.
CARDOZA: For Edwards and millions of others, the decision to drop out of school may have seemed easy, but the path after that is hard, a lifetime of dreams that lie just out of reach. It means a promotion lost, a business not started, a bedtime story never read. People who struggle to read, write and speak English are sentenced to a lifetime of economic challenges, says Stephen Fuller, an economist with George Mason University in Virginia. He says it's important to have an educated workforce.
STEPHEN FULLER: If we fail, it's a double expense, because the economy isn't healthy, and we also have increased social services.
CARDOZA: Fuller says that has enormous costs for society. People with low literacy are more likely to need unemployment checks, food stamps and subsidized housing. And they're more likely to end up behind bars.
STEPHEN STEURER: We find that about half of the people who come to prison didn't finish high school.
CARDOZA: That's Stephen Steurer, who heads the Correctional Education Association, an advocacy group for educators in jails and prisons. Research shows inmates enrolled in education programs while incarcerated were far less likely to return to prison. Steurer says the majority of inmates will eventually be released, so funding educational programs should be common sense.
STEURER: It's public safety, baby, you know? It's not a hard sell to tell congressmen that education reduces crime. But who wants to make the choice, we got to build another grade school, or we're going to build a prison school?
CARDOZA: Improving literacy rates would not only make for a safer and more prosperous country, but also a healthier one. Alis Marachelian runs the health education program at Mary's Center in the Washington, D.C. She says the barrier between caregivers and patients who lack basic literacy is a huge problem.
ALIS MARACHELIAN: We use illustrations for medicines. We would draw the sun and the moon as to when to take the medicine. Sometimes we help them put it in the pill boxes, because they can't count, either.
CARDOZA: For some common conditions, such as diabetes, Marachelian says the least compliant patients are the ones with low literacy. It's not that they resist taking medication. They don't understand a wrong dose could be fatal. Leslie Kronz encounters stories like this every day. She works at Inova Health System in Virginia, and says all these challenges have a price tag.
LESLIE KRONZ: When people come into the system, if they're not diagnosed accurately, if they don't follow what they're being asked to do, if they're readmitted because of lack of understanding, all of those things add costs. It's not simply patients' problems. It's not simply the hospital or the health system's problems. It affects every one of us.
CARDOZA: Some researchers have estimated the cost of low health literacy is at least $100 billion each year. Experts say if the U.S. invested in adult education, these costs to society could be reduced. Instead, they say what's happening is we're cutting. The U.S. spends $2 billion on adult education, but that's a fraction of the funding that goes to schools and colleges. And there's been an almost 20 percent drop in funding since 2002. On top of that, the sequester will impose another 5 percent cut. For those adults who do manage to go back to school, their improved literacy skills can change their lives.
NUBE GUAMAN: (unintelligible) only book I've read.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: Oh, there. Yeah.
CARDOZA: Nube Guaman is from Ecuador. She's at Literacy Partners, a nonprofit in New York City, along with her 17-year-old daughter, Vilma.
GUAMAN: My kids, really, they don't want pay attention when I didn't know English.
VILMA GUAMAN: If she would attend to the parent-teacher conference, she would just nod her head and leave.
CARDOZA: Parents who are literate are more likely to be involved in their child's schoolwork. And research shows this in turn results in higher test scores, better attendance and improved graduation rates. That's exactly what happened in the Guaman family, and Nube is now head of the PTA in her daughter's school. Anthony Tassi, who runs Literacy Partners, says educating adults has a multiplier effect.
ANTHONY TASSI: By focusing on parents, you can at once help cure the problem today and also prevent it long term, because as you enhance parents' skills, they will automatically transfer those skills to their children. You don't need to do anything extra.
CARDOZA: Adult education can also be the difference between wasted potential and a world of possibilities. Matthew Burke is an example. He graduated from high school even though he was reading at about the third-grade level. He got a job as a welder but found his lack of reading skills held him back.
MATTHEW BURKE: We'd leave notes on the board, you know, boom tracker broke down, didn't have time to fix, this is a problem.
CARDOZA: Except Burke's colleagues couldn't read or understand his notes, and he couldn't read theirs.
BURKE: If there wasn't someone around to ask what it was, then I went on to the next note, or I'd put it off when I probably should've taken care of that one because that was priority.
CARDOZA: Since learning to read, Burke says his life has changed. He no longer avoids looking at equipment manuals, and he's now enrolled in a community college blueprint class. When he completes that in a few months, Burke says his salary will increase 20 percent, and he'll have other job opportunities. But best of all, he says, he feels much better about his life.
BURKE: It makes looking at the future of having a family less stressful because I have a skill set, and I have a knowledge of something that I can support my family off of. And that's the biggest thing.
CARDOZA: For the millions of adults with low literacy, the ability to read, write and speak English might offer them the most important opportunity of all: a chance to emerge from the shadows and participate as equals in society. For NPR News, I'm Kavitha Cardoza.
Well, switching gears now, you may have enjoyed your extra hour's sleep this weekend, but some people say it's time to get rid of daylight saving time altogether.
YOUNG: What?
HOBSON: That's right, Robin. It's true. Economist Allison Schrager says daylight saving doesn't conserve much energy and may actually hurt the economy. She proposes just two time zones across the continental United States. We...
YOUNG: There's two just in Arizona.
HOBSON: Well, that's true. Well, no. In Arizona...
YOUNG: They switch all the time.
HOBSON: They - well, they never change, right? No, they would say we're the ones who switch.
YOUNG: Oh, I don't know.
HOBSON: They stay the same. Anyway, go to our Facebook page and let us know what you think of that idea: two time zones, east and west in the United States, and no daylight saving time.
This is HERE AND NOW. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Dan Harmon Apologizes for Sh*tting on Community Season Four
As he does, he wrote a very long blog post about it.
Yesterday, we told you that Dan Harmon finally got around to watching the fourth season of Community. And boy, did he not like it. So much so that he ranted about it for a while on the most recent episode of his "Harmontown" podcast. With quotes like "It is very much like an impression, and an unflattering one. It's just thirteen episodes of 'Oh, I'm Dan Harmon! Derpy, derpy, durr! Die Hard! Durrrrr!'" And "It's like flipping through Instagrams and watching your girlfriend just blow a million [other guys]." He tried to apologize on Twitter, but apparently it wasn't enough because he wrote a 1,600-word blog post thoroughly apologizing and acknowledging the he was just "indulging [his] petty feelings about being left out."
He specifically addresses each offended party. First were the fans "that got paid nothing to stick by Community and get us to a fifth season only to hear the incoming showrunner say some stuff that felt very un-Community." Harmon continued: "What I said was disrespectful to your love for this show, love that I sometimes erroneously equate with validation of me as a person."
To the cast and crew, he acknowledges it was "dishonest to imply" their work was "as hard to watch as my family being assaulted." Adding: "I was riffing and tried to turn darkness into levity through shock and hyperbole."
Lastly, he apologizes to the season's writers, for pooping on their work, as he puts it. "You had to do something nobody should have to attempt, and you had the option of doing it the lazy way or the sellout way and you clearly did what you did because you were thinking of the fans."
The note ends saying he has to go back to work: "Now I'm going to get back to conceptualizing with the writers about season 5 and, I hope, achieve a heightened level of actual empathy in the bargain."


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Project Lead Sled, Part 3: Going Buck Wild with Kolor
Going Buck Wild with Kolor
Stance goes a long way in creating a truck that will turn heads at will. When that stance is completely laid out over 26-inch billet Raceline wheels, then heads will surely look in the direction of your truck just from the shock value alone. But when you want neck-snapping attention, the paint covering your truck's body is the great equalizer. We know all too well the highs and lows of custom paintwork and its associated headaches and triumphs. Having been in this industry for a ridiculous number of years, we have watched fads and crazy colors come and go and come back again. One look that always stayed current and never went out of style was the pure hot rod flame job. When done right, it will stand the test of time no matter what was deemed to be "in" at that moment.
Enter our '09 Ram truck and its extremely tired appearance. After having been a slave to customization and painted a number of times to suit our interests, we had come to the conclusion to turn back the clock and create a scheme we wouldn't ever want to paint over again. Having completed an exhaustive search for colors, a list of killer hues befitting a hot-rod truck was sourced from House of Kolor's Shimrin and Shimrin 2 catalogs with plenty of flakes and Kandies to add luster and pop. Dave Monnig, at Coast Airbrush in Anaheim, California, handled much of our huge shopping list, but was back ordered on a few of our needs due to lending a helping hand with tons of other SEMA projects. To gather the rest of the items, along with the necessary tape, plastic, and masking paper, we took a trip to see Danny Hunt at B&D Auto Paint Supply in Pomona, California. Picking up the phone, we ordered a pair of front fenders from LMC Truck, because the factory pieces had been jacked up from riding low with the wrong offset wheels. Once our shopping bags were overflowing with all the parts we needed, we delivered Project Lead Sled to the highly capable hands of Buck Ramirez and his team at Buck Wild Design Studios in Covina, California. Having worked with Buck and his crew on previous projects, we salivated at the thought of what our Ram's finished appearance would be once completed. Check out the photos to see how they transformed our Ram from executive cruiser to hot-rod–infused custom.
16. Plenty of MF01 Gold flake was added to SG150 Intercoat Clear before being loaded into a spray gun.
LMC TruckLenexa, KS 66219
Coast AirbrushAnaheim, CA
Buck Wild Designs626-321-1122
B&D Auto Paint SupplyPomona, CA 91767


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Use this page to find the perfect tool for your U.S. Census research.
Search for United States Census in Books & More
The official search tool of the U.S. Census, American FactFinder 2 search options include Community Facts, for popular or quick facts about a particular community, and Guided Search and Advanced Search, for in-depth research questions. Researchers can download data, tables and spatial data.
Coverage: 2000 Census, 2010 Census, American Community Survey and more. For further details, see What We Provide.
Recommended for: In-depth research projects, graduate students, faculty.American FactFinder
"Social Explorer provides easy-to-use tools for visual exploration of demographic information, from census and economic data to election and religion data, and more. With these interactive online tools, users can visually explore change over time and understand the patterns behind the raw numbers." Create maps and reports, and download data.
Coverage: U.S. Census, 1790-2010; American Community Survey, 2005-2011; InfoGroup Data on Religious Congregations, 2009-2010; The Religious Congregations and Membership Study, 1980-2010; Carbon Emissions Data, 2002.
Recommended for: GIS projects, visual presentations, undergraduate researchers.Social Explorer
Social Explorer recommends that researchers set up a personal login account.
Compare data through StatisticalDatasets' user friendly interface. Create tables, charts and maps, and examine trends. Browse or search to find variables. Researchers can download data and images, as well as export citation information to RefWorks.
Coverage: 2000 Census, 2010 Census, American Community Survey, and more. For complete information see Available Datasets and Sources.
Recommended for: Visualization of data, quick comparison of variables, undergraduate researchers.Data-Planet (Sage)
ICPSR is a database of political and social data sets, including the decennial census. Other topics covered range from elections to education to prisons. Data can be downloaded to Excel, SPSS, or other software tools for manipulation and analysis Researchers can search by data set or variable. A collection of data-related literature tied to the data is also provided.
Coverage: Decennial Census, 1790-2000. Browse by series. View all studies.
Recommended for: In-depth research projects, advanced undergraduate researchers, graduate students, faculty.ICPSR (Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan)
Historical Census data arranged by major topic area. Database based on former print resources. Create tables and charts, and download data in Excel or .CSV format.Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970
Designed for genealogical research, this tool allows researchers to search for individuals rather than data. Researchers can even view a scan of the original census roll. Research historical figures or your own ancestors.
Coverage: U.S. Federal Census Collection (1790-1940), plus many other collections. See the Ancestry Card Catalog for more information.
Recommend for: Genealogists, historians, undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty.AncestryLibrary (ProQuest)


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The Committee has a maximum of 17 members, of whom
the quorum is five. The members of the Committee are appointed
by the House and unless discharged remain on the Committee until
the next dissolution of Parliament. The present membership of
the Committee is as follows:
The Committee has the power to send for persons,
papers and records, to make reports to the House and to appoint
two sub-committees. The Committee has appointed an Education Sub-committee
and an Employment Sub-committee. The quorum of each sub-committee
is three. The membership of the Education Sub-committee during
this inquiry was as follows:
The Committee and its sub-committees may meet notwithstanding
any adjournment of the House and may travel within the United
Kingdom and abroad. The Committee or its sub-committees may meet
concurrently with other committees or sub-committees established
under Standing Order No. 152 and with the House's European Scrutiny
Committee (or any of its sub-committees) or the Environmental
Audit Committee for the purpose of deliberating or taking evidence.
The Committee may exchange documents and evidence with any of
these committees, as well as with the House's Public Accounts
and Deregulation Committees.
The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published
by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications
of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet
at www.parliament.uk/commons/selcom/edemhome.htm. A list of Reports
of the Committee in the present Parliament is at the end of this
All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk
of the Education and Employment Committee,7 Millbank, London SW1P
3JA. The telephone number for general inquiries is 020 7219 6181/1352;
the Committee's e-mail address is email@example.com


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You are Brady Hoke. What is your approach towards the team this week?
I like these "You are..." themed stories. What is Coach Hoke's approach towards the team this week? Here are some thoughts I had.
(1) You (the players) are defined at Michigan by what you do against Ohio State. BEAT OHIO.
(2) This is a chance to create a memory for yourselves (seniors) or for the seniors.
(3) This is our bowl game. (Obviously, any bowl oppoent will not be as good as Ohio State.)
(4) Light them up that they have underperformed and can salvage the season with a win here.
(5) Don't overstate the game's importance. Focus on the process of getting better each day.
(6) Other (explain)


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University Park, Pa. -- Walk into 5 Keller Building on Penn State's University Park campus and you might think you're on the production set of a sports video game. A person stands in the middle of the room, covered in shiny sensors and moving a golf club back and forth slowly. He pulls the club back, then blasts a golf ball into the net directly in front of him. Eight motion sensor cameras stationed around the room register his movements, and a complex stick person replicates the swing on high-definition monitors at either side of the room. This motion capture system is the same type of technology used to give the video game version of Tiger Woods realistic movement. But in Keller Building, the technology becomes a teaching tool.
Designed to advance golf research and instruction, the Golf Teaching and Research Center (GTRC) opened its doors on Nov. 11, 2009, with a ribbon cutting ceremony. The center provides a cutting-edge, high-quality learning environment for Penn State students in the Professional Golf Management (PGM) option of the Recreation, Park and Tourism Management undergraduate degree program.
The GTRC would not have been possible without the financial support of many individuals and companies, whose confidence in the PGM program made them invaluable partners in this project. Peter Tombros, volunteer chair of "For the Future: The Campaign for Penn State Students," and his wife, Ann, chose to contribute by creating a matching gift initiative, and their support was the driving force behind the successful fundraising effort. Likewise, individuals such as Richard Althouse, Frank Guadagnolo former director of the PGM program) and Deborah Kerstetter, Jon and Judy Mills, William and Susan Naylor, and Raymond Rogers made significant contributions towards the GTRC. Qualisys North America and FlightScope contributed camera and radar equipment, respectively, for this project.
In addition to the motion capture system, the GTRC boasts a three-dimensional Doppler radar ball-flight machine that predicts the trajectory and distance of the ball, a putting green, and several pieces of equipment to modify clubs. The center also has a space in which physical assessment tests are conducted with help from faculty members in the Department of Kinesiology.
"We are excited about the Golf Teaching and Research Center because it is further educating our students to become better teachers of the game, which will allow them to be more marketable after graduation," said Burch Wilkes, director of the PGM program and instructor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management.
By breaking down the finer points of how a golfer moves and swings, the center will give students a new perspective on golf and golf instruction.
"The equipment in the Golf Teaching and Research Center is more advanced than most other teaching institutions right now, which will give students a real advantage when they graduate," said Eric Handley, director of the GTRC and instructor in the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Management.
Because it is indoors, the center also provides year-round education, which is a huge asset when snow-covered fairways prevent golfers from practicing and learning.
"We typically like our students to learn outdoors, in the environment they'll be working in, but it's not always easy in the northeast," said Handley.
"We hope to serve the golf community through the center," said Handley. "The instruction techniques we'll be creating and developing will not only benefit students, but the entire golfing industry as well."


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Ottawa Branch
Percussions Lessons in Barrhaven
View some available Percussions teachers below or go to Teachers & Rates to search for an in-home Percussions lesson. Not all teachers are featured below, so give us a call to find a certified Percussions teacher in the Barrhaven area.
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Keep going up the state goalscoring list to the very top and there's Jaiden Marriott, a tall forward from Bonneville High.
When J.J. Muniz scored into an empty net and sprinted to the Ogden sideline where his excited teammates were waiting, bittersweet was hardly the word to describe the scene.
Region 11 soccer has a couple big games locally this week, plus an early look at how Region 1 baseball is shaping up.
After rain delays took softball away for a few days, the Ogden Tigers didn't skip a beat in cracking down against crosstown rival Ben Lomond in a win Wednesday.
Ben Lomond battled Ogden during a girls varsity softball game Wednesday, April 18, 2018, at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden.
Box Elder softball got a boost from its younger players, while Jaiden Marriott lifted Bonneville's soccer team to another win
Ben Lomond battles Juan Diego during a boys varsity soccer game Friday, April 6, 2018, at Ben Lomond High School in Ogden.


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Water restrictions eased; conservation still vital, officials say
In a bit of a milestone for what has become historic drought conditions for West Texas and the immediate area, Big Spring City Council approved moving from Stage 3 of its drought contingency plan to Stage 2, switching from mandatory water restrictions to voluntary conservation efforts.According to Assistant City Manager Todd Darden, the Colorado River Municipal Water District — which distributes raw water to several West Texas cities, including Big Spring — has lifted its restrictions on supplied water."We're probably one of the last cities coming to the council to have those restrictions lifted," Darden said. "What we are doing is going to a voluntary stage. We're still asking customers to use for their watering schedules, which is primarily because of the (rehabilitation of) the water and wastewater facilities."We still have limitations on our treatment and capacity. If these changes fall short of our goal for the demand the water treatment plan, then we'll come back to the council and look at a different direction at that time. I feel like we'll be able to attain our goal with these watering schedules."The resolution moving from Stage 3 of the drought contingency plan to Stage 2 was accepted by the council on emergency reading, meaning it does not require a second reading to be enacted. District 1 Councilman Marcus Fernandez was unable to attend the meeting due to a scheduling conflict with his work.According to Darden, the shift from mandatory restrictions to voluntary restrictions means the city will no longer issue citations for misuse of water, however, the municipality will be looking at usage levels very closely."Water customers are requested to voluntarily limit the irrigation of landscaped areas to Sundays and Thursdays for water customers with a street address ending in an even number," Darden said. "Saturdays and Wednesdays will be for water customers with a street address ending in an odd number and to irrigate only between the hours of midnight until 10 a.m. and 8 p.m. and midnight on designated days.""Irrigation of landscaped areas is permitted at any time if it is by means of a hand-held hose, a faucet-filled bucket or watering can of five gallons or less, or drip irrigation system. Also, water customers are requested to refrain from washing cars and to continue to practice water conservation and to minimize or discontinue water use for non-essential purposes. Wasting of water is still very much prohibited."Mayor Tommy Duncan said the change from mandatory restrictions to relying on citizens' voluntary efforts shouldn't be a problem, at least from a historic perspective."When we first went into the drought conditions, we received good results just by asking the citizens to voluntarily reduce (their water consumption)," Duncan said. "Not only that, we met all of those goals (set by CRMWD)."Darden agreed, saying the past summer's rather strict guidelines left a lasting impression on most city water customers."I think once you've lived through mandatory water restrictions, it resonates with you a little bit more," Darden said. "When you preach conservation — and we're going to preach conservation because we need to do what we can to preserve our water out here in West Texas and not be wasteful — I believe it has an effect. Conservation is going to remain at the forefront, as well as education of our customers as to the importance of our water supply."While many area water customers may breathe a sigh of relief with the switch, Darden said residents should remain vigilant with their water usage."This isn't the city of Big Spring coming out and announcing the end of the drought or that water conservation is no longer a major concern," Darden said. "The truth of the matter is conservation is even more important now. Recent rains have helped, but two of our three water reservoirs are still less than 6 percent full, with Lake J.B. Thomas currently less than 1 percent of capacity."The citizens of Big Spring have seen first hand just how quickly our water supply can become threatened. During the summer months evaporation takes an immense toll on our reservoirs and, without solid conservation on the part of our residents, we could end up right back where we were a few months ago."


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PsionEdge wrote:
Major General Thanatos wrote:
PsionEdge wrote:
Has anyone argued that point, or do you just enjoy building strawmen?
Tons of people in here have argued universal background checks are not necessary.
Did they argue that more training was required for sales?
They argue more training is required in response to anything.


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Brand Label: The North Face
ITEM MOVED TO ARCHIVE: On January 30, 2018 3:42 pm, Fashion Stylist Online noted this item may be out of stock at Bergdorf Goodman because it was not referenced in their latest online catalog. If this item is out of stock at Bergdorf Goodman, you may be able to find similar fashions sold there or elsewhere on our The North Face Designer Brand Directory.
Available for Purchase Online at Bergdorf Goodman for $149.00Pin It
The North Face "Moondoggy 2.0" colorblock quilted jacket. Durable water-repellent (DWR) finish. Hooded collar; zip front. Elasticized hem and cuffs. Long sleeves. Split kangaroo pockets with snap closure. Embroidered logo at chest and back. Outer, polyester. Hood and yoke lining, Sherpa fleece polyester. Body lining, micro-fleece polyester. 550-fill down insulation. Machine wash. Imported.
Shop other brand label items from The North Face on FashionStylist.com.
This item was published for sale online by Bergdorf Goodman on January 30, 2018 10:54 am and last updated by us January 30, 2018 3:42 pm.
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Editor Picks: The Exclusive Summer Capsule
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The North Face Men's Rivington Pullover Sweater
New promo codes and links offering limited time promotions, sales coupons, and special offers on The North Face designer fashions and accessories will be posted on each designer label apparel page. For the latest up to date information on this The North Face Boys Moondoggy 2 0 Down Quilted Jacket Red Xxs | Coat, Jacket And Clothing fashion item, including product specifications, ordering options, pricing, shipping details, high resolution pictures, shopper comments, and other sales media, visit the Bergdorf Goodman Online Store.


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10% off all sofas and sofa beds & up to 50% off in-stock items. Shop now.
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About this type of fabric:
Understated, classy and beautiful, our house linen weave looks fantastic in any home. Because it is man-made, you're able to get the fabulous look and feel of linen without suffering from its usual delicateness.
Composition: 100% polyester
Rub Count: 40,000
What's a rub count? It's a test to see how many times you can rub a fabric before it starts to show any visible wear. We test all of our fabrics like this to ensure they are super durable as well as looking and feeling fabulous.
Cool and laid-back, our super lightweight linen fabric has a relaxed and unstructured quality, which means it hangs slightly looser than traditional linens and has a truly natural feel.
Composition: 100% linen
Rub Count: 25,000
Our broad weave linen is gently textured, with a playful softness and a weightiness that gives it substance. This fabric gives the fabulous look and feel of linen without suffering from its usual delicateness.
Rub Count: 50,000
Our country linen is piece-dyed individually in sections, then washed, to give it a deliberate aged appearance. This lovingly treated linen is the ideal complement to a warm and welcoming country style home.


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About Us
The Accessible Education Center (AEC), formerly known as the Disability Resource Center (DRC), is one of the oldest programs serving students with disabilities in the state of California. Managed by two staff members, AEC, originally called the Disabled Students Office (DSO), was established in 1972 as a part of the campus Student Activities Office. The DSO began the work of counseling and serving students with disabilities as well as identifying architectural barriers in an effort to recommend changes to the environment that would improve access for students.
The DSO gradually grew in size and responsibility to fulfill its current mission and role. In the early 90's, the DSO changed its name to the Disability Resource Center, reflecting its comprehensive role of acting as resource to the campus as well as an entity that provides essential services to employees and students with disabilities. In 2013, the Disability Resource Center changed its name to be known as the Accessible Education Center, to incorporate a philosophy of accessible education for students with disabilities. The new name change reflects the broad scope of attention and support to SJSU students with disabilities and the University's continued advocacy and commitment to increasing accessibility and inclusivity on campus.
Today the center serves over 1300 students and 120 employees with disabilities. AEC is located in four facilities across campus and works with campus stakeholders to ensure access and provide support.


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photos by Running on Happiness, the Beauty Department, ShannonPix fine art photo (great last minute presents!) and the sweetest occasion
With the Holiday's around the corner I thought it would be a great time to share my all time favorite Holiday Tutorials going from my favorite Holiday hair-do's to Gift Wrapping (I just love gift wrapping) and even one tutorial that would make that perfect very special gift!
Hope you have a lovely weekend!
1) The Bow Bun
I cannot think of a better occasion then the Holiday's for this amazing Bow Bun! I love it and the Tutorial is amazing!
2) A very Vintage Vibe
The Beauty Department never fails when it comes to perfect hair tutorials and this is one of my Holiday favorites! The 1950's inspired ponytail!
3) Lush Low Ponytail
This is such a beautiful and classic hair-do for the Holidays! I really would like to know the original credits since I doubt the source where I found it and I would really like to know how to do these last few steps in the tutorial!
4) Tiny Bow
The Bow Bun a bit too much Bow for you? I really love the tiny detail of this simple bow from We see Rainbows! It's just delicious!
5) Sparkly DIY Giftwrap
The Sweetest Occasion comes with an amazing Sparkly Ribbon DIY! I have to say that when it comes to gift wrapping this website has really a lot of amazing tutorials and they are really all worth checking out!!
6) How to make a Perfect Bow
Maybe you are already blessed with perfect bow making skills but I am most definitely not! Flights of Fancy's Bow gift wrapping tutorial is simple but ohhhhh so perfect!!
7) DIY Paper Bows
Milomade has this amazing tutorial on how to make your own paper bows out of magazine-and-recycled paper!
8) DIY Teacup Candles
And last but not least for that perfect little gift; Martha Stewart's DIY Teacup Lights!


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Investors who trample land rights risk bottom line: experts
- Category: Commentary
(Commentary) - Companies that invest in land and resources in emerging economies risk financial and public relations disasters if local inhabitants feel they are getting ripped off, consultants warned in a report last week.
This ranged from "massively increased operating costs, as much as 29 times above a normal baseline scenario, to outright abandonment of functional operations when they ignore pre-existing or customary local land rights."
The report was entitled "The Financial Risks of Insecure Land Tenure: An Investment View," and Munden emphasised that the financial risks were many and varied from delays in construction timetables to the expropriation of assets "following the loss of insurance coverage."
He commented that "even more troubling, the escalation of risk can be extremely rapid", and that conventional techniques for managing risk were inadequate for coping with insecure local land tenure.
Projects go wrong when local people feel they have not been adequately compensated and are being deprived of their land, jobs, water and forests.
This can lead to disruption of many kinds, from roadblocks to frequent acts of sabotage and other forms of violence.
An investing company which then turns to local authorities to put down the resistance can find that its international image is badly damaged.
The report cited the case of Malaysian industrial group Sime Darby in Liberia which had to suspend the plantation of oil-bearing palm trees in the north of the country under pressure from local communities, and had to renegotiate the amounts paid for land.
Another example occurred in Chile where Chilean company SN Power had to abandon a hydroelectric project with the loss of $23 million already invested because it had not obtained approval from native populations.
An attempt by a biofuels company SEKAB to buy land in Tanzania for a huge plantation which would affect the environment ran into controversy and cost the company more than $20 million.
For Andy White, the coordinator of Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) in Washington, "the mining sector is the most exposed because it needs a lot of investments."
He told AFP: "The mining sector is a ticking time bomb all across Africa and now in Myanmar."
RRI said that "the pace of deforestation in the country (Myanmar)...has raced forward unabated."
The project coordinator for the Center for People and Forests, Maung Maung Than, said that a conflict in the north of Myanmar "like so many around the world, has its roots in community forest rights and land tenure."
White said: "It is hard to believe that national governments still embrace unfettered natural resource extraction, turning over valuable land to international investors and domestic elite.
"In this equation, long-term economic gain is often sacrificed for short-term cash."
Referring to the example of Liberia, and to a failed venture in Orissa, India, by the mining firm Vedanta which damaged its credit rating, White told AFP: "we have a turning point...investors will have to go to London or New York to borrow money."
He commented: "The financial sector will eventually understand that all this is unsound, it's a house of cards."
Related articles:


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Full TitlePhase I Study of Humanized 3F8 Monoclonal Antibody (Hu3F8) in Patients with High-Risk Neuroblastoma and GD2-Positive Tumors
3F8 is an antibody that attaches to neuroblastoma cells and helps focus a patient's own immune system — especially white blood cells — to attack neuroblastoma cells. Conventional 3F8 is made from mouse cells.
In this study, investigators want to find the optimal dose of humanized 3F8 (Hu3F8) that can be given to young patients with neuroblastoma who have a high risk of relapsing with standard treatment. Hu3F8 is made to be more like the human immune system than a mouse's immune system, so it may be associated with fewer side effects in patients than standard mouse-derived 3F8.
To be eligible for this study, patients must meet several criteria, including but not limited to the following:
- Patients must have high-risk neuroblastoma or a metastatic tumor that expresses the GD2 protein.
- Patients' cancers must persist or have returned despite prior treatment.
- Prior treatment with murine (mouse-derived) 3F8 is permitted.
- Patients must be at least age 1 but younger than 22.
For more information about this study and to inquire about eligibility, please contact Dr. Ellen Basu at 212-639-5204.
Sarcomas › Soft Tissue Sarcoma
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Visit ClinicalTrials.gov for full clinical trial description


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Sandblasting Worthing, Carpet Steam Cleaning Worthing, Pressure Washing Worthing, Shot Blasting
Carpet Steam Cleaning WorthingWe start by spraying your carpet, upholstery and curtains with a pre-spray to break up the soils and spills then we deep steam clean your carpet, upholstery and curtains right to the bottom of the pile.
The carpet steam cleaning solution is injected under high pressure into the pile of the carpet, then it is extracted under high pressure to remove all soils and spills leaving your carpet, upholstery and curtains deep down clean, we then rinse all chemicals and remaining soils (if any) from your carpet, upholstery and curtains.
The final stage once the carpet steam cleaning has been completed is to apply a stain protection treatment commonly known as Scotchguard which will help protect your carpets from future re-soiling and stains. Our carpet steam cleaning process leaves your carpets, upholstery and curtains damp to the touch but dry within a few hours not days leaving your carpets, upholstery and curtains deep down clean making your home or place of work feel like new again and protecting your healthy home or work environment for years to come.
Patio and Driveway Steam Cleaning Worthing
High-pressure steam cleaning is used to remove dirt, grime, mould and weeds from your patio, driveway and pathways.
Our local experts have the right equipment and the know-how to make your patio and garden look neat and well-tended.
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Sand Blasting


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Michael will be appearing on CTV's Canada AM on Tuesday, October 6th. Michael will perform live with his full band. Check local television listings for times.
Bungalow-B members in the Toronto area will have a chance to win a pair of tickets to the the taping of Bravo's Live At The Concert Hall next Monday, as well as Front Of The Line wristbands to the Eaton Center In store Autograph Signing on Saturday, October 10th. Members log into Bungalow-B for contest details coming soon.
Click HERE to login to Bungalow-B!